County Judge Hidalgo is not asking the commissioner to vote on a tax increase, God forbid them wanting to spend money on children’s education. She is only asking that they let the voters decide. Those same two, Briones and Garcia, had no problem voting for a significant tax increase to pay police officers substantially more, again siding with the MAGA commissioner.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is under fire from fellow commissioners after unveiling what they called a surprise proposal for a property tax hike-without prior consultation-to keep popular early childcare programs alive. Commissioners say they were left in the dark until Hidalgo announced the plan on live TV, sparking frustration over the lack of communication and details.
Hidalgo opted to announce the “penny tax” increase during an interview with ABC 13, catching several of her colleagues off guard. Harris County Commissioners Adrian Garcia, Tom Ramsey and Lesley Briones previously stated that this was the first time they’d all heard of Hidalgo’s plan to combat the funding that was running out for these programs that provide free childcare to roughly 800 children.
In an interview with Chron, Garcia said he had “zero conversation” with Hidalgo, and despite now having a three-page proposal detailing the tax hike-which Garcia described as a “regurgitation from what the county has already done with ARPA”-said commissioners were “basically at the same place” as when they first learned about the plan through the media.
“It’s still this half-baked idea. There’s no comprehensive plan that has been rolled out that has been shared with any of the offices that I know of,” Garcia told Chron. “This is not the way you do it. Look, before I go to the taxpayers to ask them for any more money out of their pocketbooks. I’ve got to have a plan.”
“Just because the judge thinks she has an idea and thinks we ought to fall in line with it-that’s not government,” Garcia added. “That’s not how it works.”
Hidalgo, in a separate interview with Chron, said she wanted to “clear up some misconceptions,” clarifying that she is not asking her colleagues to endorse the tax increase itself, but rather to allow voters to decide. It is about allowing voters to choose whether or not they believe this is a “worthy investment, whether or not it is outside county purview or the various issues that are mentioned.” She pointed to a poll conducted by her office, which found that two-thirds of the voters who participated said they wanted to see an investment in this area.
Adrian Garcia has no problem using our taxpayers’ money so he doesn’t have to hear gunfire. We wish we were all so lucky to have a patrol unit assigned to monitor our house.
